Coffee and Heart Shaped Cookies
by Lady-Aurora-Pendragon
Summary: DeBois coffee shop and Sugar and Spice Bakery are rivals, always have been, always will be, no one questions it. It was a rivalry as old as time. But maybe Arthur took it a bit too far, now he has to deal with the consequences. Merlin/Arthur. Mentions of Lance/Gwen. Modern AU. Coffee Shop AU. Underage drinking, smoking, ect. Criminal acts.
1. Chapter 1

(Hello! I wanted to join the party and do a coffee shop AU and as always, I don't want to do it like everyone else, so enjoy this, it will be a three chapter arch I think. So, it's not even a one shot, it would have just been too long for that. LOT'S OF NOTICES: I do not own Merlin, there is a heck of a lot of swearing in this, and possibly sexual themes later on.)

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><p>"So, what was it like?" Gwaine asked, because he would. Leon spit and sputtered, looking close to sweating as he rubbed his brow. He didn't like being center of attention like this, he was the behind the scenes guy; scoring enough goals in footie that someone could come up, (usually Arthur or Lance) and make the last goal and take all of the glory. He was the kind that secretly liked poetry and the soaps he watches with his gran on the days he goes to visit her.<p>

"It was…alright," he mutters, stressed, as he looked over to the window. Probably praying someone would drive by and shoot him, so he didn't have to talk anymore.

"Tell us more than that, you bloody traitor!" Gwaine demanded, because that was how Gwaine was; loud, annoying, and aggressive. But strangely loyal to his friends, and a bloody drunk at the age of fourteen.

"Fine, it was good," Leon stuttered on, looking nervously back at the group surrounding him. "I mean, the coffee was shit, utter shit, but the lemon tart was fabulous."

"This guys a twat!" Gwaine announced, loud enough that Arthur's mother might hear in the back. "Fucking traitor!"

Arthur swift in his stance, shoving his hands in his pockets and threw a few nervous looks behind him, to see if his mother was coming out; the last thing he needed was to be told off for Gwaine's mouth. His mother was not a mean woman, far from it actually, she was the kindest person Arthur knew, but she didn't like kids swearing, she didn't like being (or others being) disrespected and, honestly, that's all fourteen year olds do these days, disrespect people and themselves and things in general. In the name of growing up, of course.

"That's where Nim wanted to go, what was I supposed to do?" Leon asked, looking upset by this whole thing. Like Gwaine, he was loyal, fiercely so, Arthur knew he wouldn't do anything to upset his friends if it wasn't an absolute necessity, like touching a girls boobs obviously was.

"You fucking tart…" Gwaine said, exasperated, with a disapproving glare and a shake of the head. It hadn't even been Gwaine who Leon betrayed, but Gwaine had always been keen on the rivalry between DeBois and Sugar and Spice, he liked to talk about it more than Arthur did, sometimes even brought up ways to bring in more business. (Not that any of them worked.)

"Watch your language, young man!" came a sharp voice, full of a different kind of disapproval and both Arthur and Gwaine turned around. Arthur feared the worst while Gwaine shrugged off the comment and walked up to her, where Ygraine stood cleaning the front counter.

"Leon betrayed us, Mrs. P," Gwaine explained to her, leaning over the counter where the mother had just washed, clearly ignoring the wetness there. Ygraine looked up from her work and frowned, looking from Arthur and then to Leon and then, finally, to Gwaine.

"I very much doubt that," she told him. Gwaine looked like he had just been slapped with the rag in her hand and pulled back, pointing back to Leon.

"This complete a-donkey, went over to Sugars last night, Mrs. P," Gwaine told her, expecting her to react right away, when she didn't he made a noise like a child makes when he's being unfairly punished, and went on. " He had a right good time too, the wanker!"

Ygraine rolled her eyes at Gwaine's choice of words. "So what?" she asked, as if she didn't know, the rivalry had been going on for years, before Arthur was even born. Both companies were handed down from generation to generation and would be handed down again, to Arthur, and from Hunith, the owner of Sugar and Spice to her son, Merlin, who was, (In Arthur's opinion,) much more of a wanker than Leon ever could be.

They hadn't liked each other from the start, Merlin and Arthur. Arthur hadn't always lived in this town, he only moved here with his mother about five years before now, after she divorced his father and inherited the family coffee shop. Arthur came with her, while his twin sister, Morgana stayed with their father in London, at first, Arthur likened it to The Parent Trap and one day thought he and Morgana would think up a plan of getting their parents back together, except now he relized how better off his mother was without her husband, how much happier she was being here, in her coffee shop, and realized that he and Morgana didn't like each other so much.

But he liked her much more than Merlin, the wanker. It's never easy being the new kid in school, you always feel out of place, and what you really don't need is some skinny, toothpick boy screaming at you that you're a prat in front of the entire lunchroom. He didn't care that he had spilled Merlin's lunch all over the floor, the idiot shouldn't have had the bloody (Hello fucking Kity) lunchbox open and should have gotten out of the god damn way when Arthur yelled to move. He didn't care that he shouldn't have been running, he was late and he only had so much time to eat before the next set of classes, it was his first day and he was nervous.

"It's just a friendly rivalry," Ygraine was saying now, shrugging off the idea that the families were at war, like Gwaine had just suggested. But it wasn't friendly at all, you either go to DeBois, where you get the best cup of coffee of your life and (maybe) some second-rate baked good, or you go to Sugar and Spice and get (probably not so) great baked goods and shit coffee. You never go to both, you go to one or the other, it wasn't up for discussion. Families were divided by this, weddings were called off because of this, it was an age old rivalry and not at all friendly.

Arthur's friends were shooed out after awhile, Gwaine looked offended, still going on about how Leon was a traitor, whom looked affronted while the others were laughing about it. Once the door was shut and the jingling bell stopped ringing, Yrgaine looked back at her son , shaking her head.

"Your friends are something else."

He smiled and nodded, "I guess."

Mere moments later he was ushered out of the door as well, but he fought and fussed, pleading with his mother who followed behind him, determined. It seems Gwaine struck something in her, something that Arthur wished would go away.

"You'll see," she was saying, as she pushed him across the street. He felt like a traitor, just like Leon., He wondered if this was how Leon felt. "You kids make up silly stories in your heads. There is no reason why we cannot be friendly with the competition."

"Because they're the competition, they need to be crushed, not given fruit baskets!" Arthur argued, wrenching himself out of his mother's grasp, once they hit the sidewalk on the other side of the street. He looked longly to their little coffee house.

"You sound more and more like your father every day," she commented, pushing open the door, the little bell dung, just like theirs did, but it played the song of betrayal. They were betraying their coffee shop and their ancestors. _Poor nan,_ Arthur thought. _Probably rolling in her grave right now._ Although she had been cremated, so technically it would be rolling in her urn.

"Hello!" came a cheery voice, coming from the back. "How may I help-oh, Ygraine." The women who stepped out from behind the back was Hunith Cane, a short, kind faced woman, who looked nothing like her son at all. "How can I help you?"

"We were just stopping by, seeing how things were going," Ygraine said cheery, even though Hunith's voice and cheeriness had faltered. Arthur stood behind his mother, feeling like an utter fool for even being in here. He had never stepped foot in Sugar and Spice before, but apart from being filled with the enemy it had a nice homey feel to it, framed pictures on the walls and it smelled amazing. Not that Arthur would admit any of this, not even on his death bed.

The wallpaper was pink behind all the framed pictures and some artwork done by children, they looked like utter rubbish, so he figured they were painted by Merlin at some point or another. The counter was a light blue color and Arthur suddenly wondered if the whole place was designed by Barbie. There was a little Chinese cat on the blue counter that waved one paw and had a plate with a cupcake on the other, it was stupid, but strangely cute at the same time, Arthur would never admit that either.

DeBois was nothing like this. It had a bit more woodsy theme, like a cottage and was equally as homey feeling. (Even more so, actually.) It had wood panels for wallpaper and one whole wall was a bookshelf, filled with any book you can think of. Ygraine bought them all off Ebay and Craig's List for cheap. There was also a fireplace, for when its winter and the customers wanted to sit cozy by a fire.

Arthur felt more at home there, he felt like an outsider standing here, like it was his first day of school again and he was just waiting for Merlin to come out and call him a prat. He looked out of the front store window, longingly at DeBois across the street. There was a couple outside right now, wondering why the door was locked, Arthur thought of making an excuse about wanting to go over there and serve them, but thought better of it when Hunith opened her mouth again.

"Oh, you know, business is great," she grinned, a bit showy, looking around her store. "Got another wedding on Saturday, fourth one this month, couldn't ask for a better turn out. We do make some marvelous cakes here."

"Sure you do," Ygraine nodded, with a tightened smile. "How is your-"

"Course we make many wonderful things here, like tarts and pastries, everyone 'round town is always talking about it, asking me to send them this and that," Hunith was glowing with gloat at this point. "I swear I haven't the time to do anything anymore, I had to hire on three new bakers."

"That's lovely," Ygraine said flatly. Arthur checked, and his mother was definitely scowling. He smirked. Hunith didn't seem to notice though, or if she did, she didn't care. Or maybe was glad about it, Arthur thinks it is the latter.

"How's your coffee house, still staying afloat?"

Arthur had never seen Ygraine so angry, not even with his father, before their divorce.

**_XXX _**

For the next two months all Ygraine did was read cook books, but none of the cookies or pastries she made were any better than usual. Arthur was force fed so many different things he didn't want to see sweets again for weeks. She had tried her hand at wedding cakes too, only one couple ordered a cake, with blue and pink flowers. Ygraine had misread the order and gave them blue and yellow flowers instead, and felt so bad about it that she gave them a full refund, plus the cake, that tasted a bit like gingerbread. Arthur had no idea how she managed that.

She decided after three months of trying to outdo Hunith with baked goods, that she would go back to her roots, which was coffee and came up with something called The Cinnamon Twist and The Pink Lady, for girls, or blokes, if they so fancied. Business was booming, as it should be.

Arthur was glad to help out every afternoon, it pushed off his homework and he would rather spend time with his mum than be alone at home all the time. Just like his mother, he had almost grown up here, it felt like a second home. His friends took the piss every chance they got though, coming by to see if he wanted to go to the park and play footie or go hang out at one of their houses. Sometimes he wanted to, but then he looked over, across the street, at the line forming outside of Sugar and Spice and declined, he was going to bring in as much business as he could for his mother.

Arthur felt just as exhausted as his mother did every night when they got home from the shop, while his mother would start her day early in the morning at the coffee shop, Arthur would be at school, learning useless shit he didn't need to know, because his life was already planned. He was going to take over DeBois, maybe change the name to Pendragon, if he so fancied, and put Sugar And Spice under. He would stand outside, possibly with a very nice beard, and laugh as Merlin packed up his things and drove away, never to be seen again.

It was a beautiful dream, he had it almost every night, he wanted it so bad. More than the time he wanted a puppy.

Arthur wasn't the best in school, his friends teased that he was a bit dumb, but he wasn't dumb, he just didn't give a fuck. His mother never had time to harp on him about doing school work and he liked that, he took advantage of it and didn't bother doing it most days. Which lead him to fail miserably. Which now, lead him to being in the library after school hours, cramming for a test the next morning in English. God, he hated English, mostly because he had that class with Merlin. Merlin, with his overwhelming annoyingness and who thought he was so bloody bright, answering questions when the teachers asks them, like you are supposed to do that. If you have one ounce of cool in your body, you know damn well that you are not.

"Need some help?" he was asked and he looked up so suddenly that he hurt his neck. His eyes widened when he saw Merlin standing there, hands clutching the handle of his bag that was over his shoulder. _Not a fucking chance_, Arthur thought. "Are you studding for the English test? I'm pretty nervous about it," Merlin continued, nervously moving from foot to foot, like he had to pee. _Yeah right,_ Arthur thought, _Mr. I'm So Bright I have to Wear Shades, as if he's worried. _"We could study together?"

"Study with the enemy?" Arthur said out loud, by accident, but he was quite sure he would have said it anyway. Merlin frowned.

"You know, we don't have to hate each other, just because our mothers are-"

"No, I think we do," Arthur stopped him. "You probably wanted to feed me the wrong answers so I failed the class, don't think I'm not on to your game, Cane!"

"Why are you always such a fucking prat?" Merlin snapped at him, looking a bit red faced, like he was super angry or embarrassed, Arthur thought perhaps both. Angry because he had been caught being a wanker and embarrassed because he should be!

"I don't know, why are you so spineless?" Arthur fought back, shrugging off Merlin's comment. Merlin dropped his bag then, looking close to tears, or to ripping out Arthur's hair, not that he could, he was a bloody toothpick.

"Ugh, god, why do I even bother with you?!" Merlin demanded. "Why do I even try to be your friend?!"

"Don't know, don't care, but do stop…please."

Merlin scoffed. "Hah, you know the word please, I'm shocked."

"That's because my mum raised me with class, unlike your mum, who fucked around once and ended up with a retard baby."

Arthur was suddenly pushed out of his chair then, something bony and rather brittle on top of him, hitting him. He almost laughed, sending his fist into Merlin's jaw.

They both ended up with detention for two weeks. It was worth every minute.

**_XXX_**

"You have got to stop fighting at school, Arthur," his mother warned, as she put ice on his lip. "If you don't stop, I'm going to have to punish you."

"What are you going to do, ground me from the coffee shop?" he retorted, spiteful. His mother never punished him, he didn't like the idea of it.

"Maybe I will," she said, with the same level of concern. He rolled his eyes and pulled away from the steadiness of her hands, looking away. "I'm just worried, Arthur…"

"It's fine."

"I don't believe that for a second."

He jumped off the back counter then, surprising her a bit, he headed toward the back door, ignoring her as she asked where he was going. He walked to the small park just down the street, sitting on top of one of the picnic tables and ran his tongue over the cut on his lip, The bloody taste stung his tongue and he winced.

He hadn't been in a fight with Merlin this time, funny enough, he had been in a fight with the idiot's best mate, Will, who thought that any of this was his business, the little fucker. He came off worse though, bruised ribs, Arthur laughed at the thought. Luckily, he had gotten off school grounds before any teachers caught him, he thinks Will was busted though and that both pleased him and angered him, because surely the weasel would tell them who he was fighting with.

Arthur had gotten detention three times this last month, just for fighting, all of the pervious times had been fighting Merlin, who couldn't fight to save his ass. Even so, the principle, the stuffy asshole he was, said if he caught Arthur fighting one more time, he was going to expel him. Now if Will told he would be fucking booted out a school. Arthur rubbed at his face with his hands, his mum would kill him.

He heard footsteps on dried grass and looked up, defensively. But it was only his friends, Leon, Percy, and Lance. They all sat around him at the table, without saying anything.

"Gwen just told me what happened," Lance said, after a moment of them just sitting there. "I told the lads."

"How does Gwen know?" Arthur asked. Gwen, a very sweet girl, whom Arthur might have snogged once, but her heart eyes were very much set on Lance. Who, with dark hair and a perfect body for a fifteen year old, was a bloody dream boat. He wished them the best, if only they would stop being so stupid and just get it on already.

"She's friends with Merlin," Lance shrugged, tapping his fingers on the wooden, red table. Of course Gwen was friends with Merlin, she was friends with everyone. "I guess Merlin is pretty pissed about it."

"Who cares?" Arthur shot back. He wanted Merlin to be mad, because Arthur was mad.

"You know, Merlin really isn't that-"

"You better not finish that sentence, or we're finished!" Arthur glared as Lance so hard that Lance pulled back, eyes widening.

"I'm sorry," he commented, after a few seconds. Arthur shot him another glare, this one much less deadly, and turned back to the nothing he was looking at before.

"What you need is something to take your mind off all this," Percy said then, and the others agreed quickly. "Gwaine's got some stuff, we could go over to his tonight and get pissed."

"What do you say, Arthur?" Leon asked, placing a gentle hand on Arthur's back. He nodded. Maybe getting completely shit-faced would make him feel better.

**_XXX_**

Pleasantly high and mostly drunk, Arthur still didn't feel any better. He was angry, but it was a different kind of angry, before he had been violently angry, ready to punch someone. He just felt spiteful now, like he wanted to get Merlin where it hurt, where it hurt the most.

Percy was out cold on the floor by Arthur's feet, snoring logs. For the biggest of them all, he handled his drink (and his 'chocolate,' according to 1975,) horribly. Leon was watching the telly and Lance was sitting next to him, on the phone with Gwen, flirting plainly. It seemed only when he was completely pissed, did he have the balls to make any moves.

"God, fuck that Merlin," Arthur said, because he should be enjoying this, he should be laughing and acting stupid, but instead he was mad. Gwaine nodded from in front of him. The two were sitting in the bay window Gwaine's mum loved so much, Arthur wondered how much she would love it once she found out that's where Gwiane hid his pot and cigarettes. Under the cushions.

"He needs to pay," Gwaine said, dangerously, before swigging at his beer. "Kicking his ass isn't working, he needs to be shown whose better."

"I'm better," Arthur retorted and Gwaine nodded. It made Arthur smile at bit. "What did you have in mind?"

Gwaine was very well known for the pranks that he often pulled on people. The lads had spent all of last summer having a prank war. Arthur was on Gwaine's team for a reason, they had won after turning the others hair green for weeks.

"Fire," Gweaine shrugged, so causally Arthur didn't understand. "Set the bloody place on fire!"

"You mean…?"

"Sugars, yeah," Gwaine nodded. This might possibly be the worst idea Gwaine ever had but in the moment Arthur thought it was great, his drunken brain telling him this would help him, that Merlin would learn his place then. Fire, _of course_!

"Yeah, alright," he agreed.

Two hours later, with their mates all snoring, Gwaine and Arthur snuck out, into the garage and Gwaine pulled a rag from his back pocket, pouring gasoline all over it from the containers that fill up his scooter any other day.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Arthur asked, as he followed him down the sidewalk. He felt a bit fuzzy, like his brain was up in the sky, flying around him. That might be because they had taken another hit before they left, but he still thought this was a pretty bad idea nonetheless.

"Chickening out?" Gwaine chided, and the bad thoughts left Arthur's not so properly working mind.

Being that it was after midnight, no one was out, and it was a bit eerie on the street, he looked over at DeBois coffee shop as they stunk behind Sugar and Spice, he thought their shop looked pretty lonely and that was a rather fucked up thought. He pushed it out of his mind and looked back to Gwaine, who jiggled the handle on the back door and it popped open. He smirked up at Arthur; he was a bloody criminal mastermind.

"Light this," Gwaine told him, holding the rag in the air by its tip. Arthur pulled a red lighter from his pocket and took a few goes at it, his fingers just as high as the rest of him was. He finally got the blaze going and let the flame touch the rag. It lit instantly and Gwaine chuckled, throwing it inside the building.

"Fuck you, Merlin!" he said as he shut the door again, smirking back at Arthur like he just did the greatest thing in the world for him. "Let's get out of here!"

"Yeah," Arthur nodded, chasing after Gwaine, as he ran up the ally.

_**XXX**_

When Arthur woke up, he was lying across Leon and Lance's knees and felt something very uncomfortable in Lance's lap. He jumped up so fast that he tripped and landed on Percy, who let out a huff and then continued sleeping. He staggered up and nearly puked from all the moving he was doing, his eyes were all fuzzy and he still felt the uncomfortable thing on his thigh and, oh yeah, it was just a lighter. He laughed and headed toward the bathroom.

He freshened up in the bathroom, took a quick shower and tried to remove all of the smoke and alcohol from his clothes by using some of Gwaine's horrible aftershave. It was Saturday so he was heading over to the shop, to help his mum out. There was no reason to go home, his clothes weren't that dirty. Twenty minutes later, he left all his sleeping friends and headed down the sidewalk to DeBois.

As soon a he reached the street though, he knew something was off, the road was blocked by barriers, and people were crowding around. He passed the barriers without notice and headed down the street, all of the shops that he passed were closed, and that was very odd for a Saturday afternoon. But something odd was clearly going on here, he worried for his mum so suddenly that he started running.

He stopped dead in his tracks, moments later, DeBois was fine, and his mother was nowhere to be seen but he suddenly just knew she was fine, she was fine because across the street, nothing was fine over there. The entire front of Sugar and Spice was black, the windows were broken and firemen littered the street. Two big firetrucks on, but not being used. The fire was out, the flames looked like they had been huge too, most of the building was charred and from what he could see, everything inside was melted.

He heard crying from somewhere and he turned to his left to see his mother, well there she was, safe and sound. She was clutching on to Huntih, who looked as if she might have just staggered out of bed, and was crying her eyes out, body shaking with hard sobs.

Arthur stepped forward, but stopped again, feeling that uncomfortable thing on his thigh again that just turned out to be a lighter and _Oh god_, his heart suddenly came up and lodged itself in his throat. _Oh god, oh god…_

His lungs suddenly shivered up and stopped working; he had to sit down on the sidewalk before he fell over. He looked up at the charred building across from him and he did this, _he did this! _


	2. Chapter 2

(_**A/N:**_ I don't think I ever mentioned it, but their ages go like this; Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine and Leon are all 14. Lance, Gwen and Percy are all 15. In the next part they will be older. The first group will be 16 and the second will be 17. And I know, Arthur is a bit of an ass in the last part and this one you are about to read. But he's better in the next part. Enjoy!)

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><p>Guilt was covering him like a blanket, snuggling him into the shame bed that he was now laying in. Sweat was forming on him the guilt squeezed so tight, was so hot. It was June and the heat was increasing, but not enough to make sense of why he was so hot, he felt like he, himself was on fire. He scrubbed at his face with his hands, itched at his eyes.<p>

He got up, because he couldn't just sit there anymore, on the sidewalk, it was like everything was eating at him, he had to do something, to move. Maybe run.

He could hear what Hunith was saying now, as she cried into his mothers shoulders. "My whole life, ruined," she was saying. "How will I provide for my child?"

_Her child_, the reason Arthur had done this, so surely Merlin was somewhat to blame, if he wasn't so insufferable maybe Arthur wouldn't have listened to Gwaine and wouldn't have…

Somehow, Arthur knew that was wrong.

But where was Merlin? Why wasn't he here?

He couldn't stand there anymore and went toward the coffee shop. The smell of burnt wood and grit didn't make itself known until after Arthur walked inside and didn't smell it anymore. With all that happened and with the drugs and drink still lingering in his blood, Arthur nearly collapsed with the weight of it all. He leaned against the counter for support, head down. He swore he would never drink or do drugs again, ever!

The door bells chimed and he looked up, half expecting the police to be there, to hall him away. It was what he deserved. But it was only his mother.

"Horrible, what happened, isn't it?" she asked, and he swore, she knew, she just knew. He must look guilty; he must look like a common criminal in her eyes. He wanted to cry.

"Yeah," he managed to get out.

"Whoever did this to those poor people is sick!" Ygraine said, nearly in a shout, and Arthur _felt _sick. She walked over to the coffee machine and turned it on. "The police think it was a hate crime." It was a hate crime. Arthur committed a crime. "Some silly fool who takes this damned rivalry too seriously."

_I did it, mother, I did it and I'm so sorry_! It was on the tip of his tongue, verging on coming out, she looked so angry; he didn't want to make his mother angry. "But isn't this good?" he said instead and she turned to look at him so fast, with the most disbelieving stare Arthur had ever seen. "Good for our business I mean, with them…out?"

"That was their livelihood, Arthur Pendragon!" she bit back at him, disapproval heavy in every word. "Hunith has no way to bring any money in, to provide for Merlin." She took a to go cup from under the counter and sighed. "Sometimes you remind me of your father so much."

It wasn't a complement, it never was, but somehow it felt worse this time, so much worse. That would be how his father thinks, and maybe Arthur did think like his father, he was _his father_ after all, it wasn't his fault, was it? It wasn't Arthur's fault that his father was a cruel business man and maybe Arthur would be just like him, if anything it was his mothers fault, for having children with that man in the first place, or for never teaching Arthur better.

Ygraine made Hunith a cup of coffee and headed back toward the door then. It was obvious she was annoyed with her son, with the way she didn't say anything else, or the way her face was scrunched up, that said it all. Arthur concluded, she had every right to be mad at him, and if she really knew what he had done…she would probably ship him back to London, to go be cruel with his father. It was no less than he deserved.

"Where…" he started, without thinking too much about it. His mother stopped and looked back, raising an eyebrow. "Where is Merlin?"

"He had been here before, he was so devastated that his friend, Will, took him home," Ygraine said, troubled, before walking back out. The bell rang and Arthur felt like it rattled his brain.

Merlin was devastated, Arthur should be happy, this is what he wanted, to _hit Merlin where it hurts_, but it didn't feel good. It was the worst feeling in the world.

**_XXX_ **

The rest of Saturday went by quickly, which most of it Arthur was sick in the bathroom for, he had the strongest idea it had nothing to do with the drinking and smoking he had done the night before though. He woke up at four in the morning on the loo floor and staggered to his bed, where he spent most of Sunday, alone in the house.

The coffee shop was closed; all of the businesses on the street were closed, while the police investigated the fire at Sugar and Spice's. But Arthur knew, his mother was with Hunith, because that was the type of woman she was. Ygraine, kind and compassionate. Ygraine, who lost her sister and parents in a fire. That was why they were living there in the first place, why his nan was in a urn, because there wasn't enough of her left to have a funeral and proper burial.

That suddenly made Arthur feel even more sick.

He hadn't talked to any of this friends since the fire and didn't really want to. Gwaine had called once, he angrily almost answered the phone that time, he wanted to tell him off. Because this was his fault too, it was his idea! Leon and Lance called too; Arthur just didn't feel like talking to them.

On Monday, he had to go back to school and he didn't want to, he felt like the shame and guilt was visible and even though his mother didn't seem to notice it, he felt like any one could, if they really looked. He was a walking criminal, free to go about and do whatever he wanted, to set more fires on innocent bakeries, when he shouldn't be allowed to do anything.

He walked into school expecting the worst, but no one paid any attention to him, just went about their day to day lives, like any other time he walked into school. There wasn't a big, red light over his head that said; CRIMINAL IN THE AREA PROTECT YOURSELF, it only felt like there was. He sighed and walked to his locker, just like any other day, just like any other person.

He just needed to calm down, he told himself, people get away with this stuff all the time. The police weren't going to find out it was him, if he just lay low and act normal. His pep talked worked through his first class, maths, and nearly ten minutes after that too, when he was on the way to the loo. But after that it completely faltered and fizzled out in his belly, where the guilt and shame came back tenfold.

He had heard crying coming from the loo and when he opened the door he stopped dead, seeing Gwen, (in the blokes bathroom, nonetheless,) holding a crying Merlin in her arms. They both looked up. Merlin, the bloody fucking asshole, didn't even have the decency to pull himself together or to stop whimpering. Gwen looked pissed suddenly and shooed Arthur out of there.

He heard a faint. "It's okay, love, I won't let him bother you today."

He felt like shit, utter shit and he blew off his other classes, heading outside to the bleachers were he sat and felt his heart slowly fall out of his throat and break into five hundred little pieces. He wasn't even being overdramatic, it literally felt like that. He was overpowered by the guilt and shame and all of the other bullshit he had been feeling for the past two days.

"Hey, you bloody stranger, what the fuck are you doing out here?" came Gwaine's voice and he choked on his spit, fighting back the urge to punch Gwaine in the face. He came staggering up the steps and sat a level lower, on the bleachers, looking up at Arthur with question. "What's with you?"

"What's with me?" Arthur asked, in a loud whisper. "We ruined peoples fucking lives!"

"You wanted to mess with Merlin..." Gwaine shrugged and Arthur felt his broken heart drop to his stomach.

"You don't even care?!" he seethed. "How can you be so fucking heartless?"

"I'm not heartless, alright?" Gwaine shot back. "I get it, we fucked up, but we can't get busted and we can't fix it, so shut the fuck up!"

Arthur nodded and felt stinging behind his eyes, and it suddenly felt like his eyes were underwater while the rest of him burned in hell. He sniffed and looked away from Gwaine.

"Don't you start crying on me, you complete girl!" Gwaine yelled at him, openly and loudly, and Arthur looked down, suddenly very interested in his left arms sleeve. He blinked back the burning and tried to take a deep breath.

"We are the worst human beings alive," Arthur told him. Rubbing at his eyes, because they felt so uncomfortable and so ready to flow big ass tears, he hadn't cried in years and suddenly he felt overdue for a cry.

"Nah, there are some people who commit murder," Gwaine said, and Arthur could tell he was shrugging and probably trying to make himself feel better more than anything else. Arthur gulped and took a sharp breath.

"We could have killed someone."

"But we didn't."

They argued a bit more, about whether or not they could have killed someone, it was all in vain really, to keep them talking, because if not they wouldn't probably be speaking, but hitting each other, or be friends anymore, at least not for awhile. And then, Leon showed up, patted Arthur on the back with a knowing but understanding look, and whisked Gwaine away. Arthur headed toward the coffee shop, it was the first day it had been open in two days, so it was going to be busy, Arthur assumed anyway.

He was going to listen to Gwaine, the complete useless toad, and try to stay cool, they _had_ to stay cool. But it was really hard when he could see across the street at the burnt mess that was the Sugar and Spice bakery. He could remember clearly how he had lit the gasoline-drowned rag and watched as Gwaine threw it inside. He hadn't known this would happen, he should have known, but he didn't. He wouldn't have done it if he did, or at least he hoped he wouldn't have.

It was like the building was taunting him, making him itch and fidget as he made peoples orders. Most of them were talking about the fire and they didn't know, it felt like they did, but they couldn't know that it was him, that he had made a mistake and he was so sorry. He had to excuse himself to the bathroom, about evening time, when it all became too much for him again.

He leaned against the cool wall and slid down until his ass hit the hard floor. He thought of how disappointed his mother would be in him, thought of how evil he was, thought of how Merlin was crying in the blokes loo and this should have felt good, that should have made Arthur happy and then he thought of how wrong that was, of how big of a bastard he was.

He didn't realize he was crying until a choked off, gasping sound came from his lips and then suddenly he felt the wetness on his face. He tried to make himself stop once and then gave up, covering his mouth, and let the tears fall openly, the shame and the guilt suffocating him in the small bathroom.

It was a week before he stepped foot in the coffee shop again.

_**XXX** _

Arthur sat at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, it was the last week of school, thank god, he was so tired of going this year. And luckily, he hadn't been expelled, miracles do happen. His mother was fiddling around the kitchen, grabbing things, and bits of old papers, from the cupboards, Arthur had asked her what she was doing a few times before, but she ignored him, so he continued eating his cereal.

She finally sat down and let out a huff, "Hunith decided to close."

This made him chock on his cereal a bit, he let the spoon drop out of his hands. The last two weeks had been much better for Arthur, he could stand seeing the burnt building of Sugar and Spice without wanting to be sick and the only time he felt the guilt biting at him, was when he walked in the blokes loo at school and heard Merlin crying in one of the stalls. He swore the wanker was doing it on purpose. Another great reason to be done with school for three months.

"Don't they have money saved up?" he asked, picking up his spoon again. This _wasn't_ going to bother him. But it already was.

"She does, but it is for Merlin's uni fund," Ygraine explained, letting out a troubled sigh. See, Merlin, he was always the problem.

"So what?"

"Some of us don't have rich fathers who pay into a trust each month, Arthur, she can't afford to spend it."

"Doesn't Merlin have a father?" Arthur asked. Everyone has a father. It's how you get made, Arthur didn't fancy having_ that_ talk with his mum again.

"He died when Merlin was a baby."

"Oh…"

Arthur was shooed from the house soon after that, and waited on the front steps of his house until he saw his friends coming up the street. Leon, Gwaine, Percy and Lance, and today Gwen too, which was odd, she didn't normally walk with them. But with how she was hanging on Lance's arm, Arthur supposed he understood the sudden change.

"…of course he's completely heartbroken," Gwen was saying as Arthur jogged up to them, getting a pat from Percy and Leon both. He wondered for a split second what Gwen was talking about, but then he figured he knew already. "He's scared he's going to have to go live with his Uncle Gaius in Sweden. He doesn't want to leave his mum, though…"

"I hear Sweden's nice," Gwaine commented and threw a look toward Arthur, probably trying to get back up on this idea, but Arthur only shrugged. "Swedish girls are probably hot."

"Merlin isn't the kind of boy who cares much about girls," Gwen said. "Freya, you know the earthy girl, she tried to get his attention, but he wasn't interested."

"That's because by earthy girl, you mean smells like cow ass!" Gwaine argued.

"What the fuck, mate, you made out with her!" Leon shouted, Gwaine laughed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Yeah, he hadn't been snogged all night, real desperate times," Percy chided.

"I must be properly kissed at least once a day or my vide is shot."

They reached the school soon and they all split up, going off to different classes. Arthur got through maths fine, he had gotten a good grade on his final and was doing an inward happy dance as he went back to his locker. But his happy dance ended when he saw Gwaine standing against the lockers.

He and Gwaine hadn't been getting on the best, since the whole setting a bloody building on fire thing. Arthur really didn't know why, they should be in this thing together. But the things Gwaine said annoyed him, it seemed to have affected him so much less than it did Arthur, he thought that maybe it had to do with Gwaine's personality, but it was still upsetting all the same.

"What?" Arthur asked, as he walked up, Gwaine was smirking.

"We'll finally be rid of Cane, yeah?" he asked, but it wasn't really a question. Arthur shrugged. "I thought you'd be excited?"

"I am," Arthur commented, throwing his maths book in the locker and pulled a English book out. Honestly, he hadn't really thought about the fact that if Merlin moved to Sweden, he would be gone, gone for good, (probably.) Arthur didn't know how to feel about this. He had spent too many years hating Merlin, so much energy on it, he would have to put that energy into something else now; maybe footie. "It will be pretty good, yeah, 'bout time that bastard got lost."

"Now you think torching the place was a good idea?" Gwaine asked, in an undertone, leaning closer to Arthur.

"No, that was still a terrible idea, the worst idea you've ever had," Arthur told him, quickly. "I'm still haunted by it, by the way."

"Panzy ass!"

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Making out?" a voice taunted and both Gwaine and Arthur jerked their heads in the direction of Will, the fucking asshole. "Of course you are," he winked and continued down the hall, weaseling through the crowd of people.

"Can we get rid of him too?" Arthur asked.

"Just tell me what of his you'd like to burn down."

School was just basically reviewing now, so the teachers could annoy you all over again, with the same material, just for a kick in the ass, as you walked out of the door. That's how Arthur saw it anyway. After school he headed to the coffee shop and walked in, the little bell chimed. He breathed in and smelled the familiar sent of coffee, but something else mixed with it.

He ignored it and continued behind the counter, saying hello to Mrs. Hudson, who always came in Thursdays to order a latte. He hadn't seen his mum yet, which was odd, normally she came out to greet him when he came in after school. She was probably just busy. He rounded the wall to the back and saw her tiny desk in the far corner empty. However, the strange smell got stronger now and he turned to look at the ovens. _Oh please, god, don't make me be force fed more sweets_, he thought, because there was a batch of cookies in the oven.

The back door jerked open and Arthur readied himself, about to tell his mother that he had to go…anywhere but here, to fetch…anything that wasn't a gross cookie. But who walked into the back door wasn't Ygraine, wasn't any of his friends, or the French girl who worked here two years ago as an after school project. It was Merlin.

"What the actual fuck are you doing here?!"

Merlin looked a bit surprised, and had some sort of powder in his dark hair. "I work here now," he said, biting down on his lip as he looked back at Arthur. "Surprise!"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me…"

_**XXX** _

"You have got to be kidding me!" Arthur shouted, for what felt like the hundredth time. "How could you do that?"

"I thought it was the right thing to do…" his mother shrugged, this was the second time they had the same conversation, as they stood in their kitchen. "It is partly our fault anyway, I was doing the right thing."

"How…h-how is it our fault?" Arthur asked, stuttering a bit. _She couldn't know it was him, right?_

"We never put a stop to the silly rumors…"

"There weren't rumors, mum, it was a rivalry, why do you always deny it?"

"That _rivalry_ ruined Hunith's life!"

"Fine, but you didn't have to give her a bloody job at our place!" Arthur argued. "That's basically being a traitor!"

"That's enough," Ygraine said, sternly. "I will not hear anymore about it, I feel in my heart I have done the right thing and nothing you will say, Arthur, will change my decision."

"I'll quit," he said, as a last stitch effort. "I won't work with Merlin, I'll quit working there."

"I seriously hope you don't mean that, Arthur," Ygraine stopped, as she was leaving the room, and looked back at her son, hurt. "If anything, that sounds like the words of a traitor."

Arthur was left to stand there, not as angry as he was before, but still plenty upset. He couldn't stand the thought of working with Merlin every day. He stalked off to his bedroom and sighed. W_hy did his mother have to be so kind?_ He wondered, as he lay down in his bed.

In the morning he didn't bother getting out of bed, even though he had school, he had finished all of his tests, he really didn't have to go. He knew his friends would take the ultimate piss out on him, if they found out. But there was no way they wouldn't, they were going to find out. Everyone was going to find out, the DeBois Company was going to look like such fools. He swore his mother had no sense of business at all.

He was forced to go to school by his mother anyway, and he had only been five minutes late, to his chagrin. He didn't even bother going to the last glass of the day, he just headed out to the park. That and the bleachers were where Arthur does his best thinking, and he really needed to think.

He supposed there was no way his mother would fire the Cane's without something serious happening. Maybe Arthur could take some money from the register and say Merlin took it? He could even plant it on Merlin…maybe put it in his jacket or in his backpack.

He stopped then, wondering when he had become a criminal mastermind like Gwaine.

He walked to the coffee shop after a bit; he didn't appreciate the bell dinging as he walked in and saw his mum and Hunith hunched over the front counter, scribbling things down on pieces of paper. His presence went ignored and he headed to the back, where, no surprise, Merlin was baking something.

He threw himself in Ygraine's office chair and watched Merlin put on a pair of red oven mitts. He must have noticed Arthur looking too, because he turned around and looked back at him.

"I still don't like you," Arthur commented, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why?"

"Hm…because you've not only infected my school and my life, but now my place of work too!" Arthur shot at him, glaring. Merlin was so stupid.

"It's not _your_ school, I was here first!"

"So, that's how you're going to play it?" Arthur asked, glare deepening. "That you were here first?"

"What do you want me to say?" Merlin countered, placing red oven mitted hands over his hips. Arthur stood up from the chair and shrugged.

"Maybe that you're sorry for being so useless?"

"Are you just trying to pick a fight with me?"

"Maybe…"

"I don't have time for this, I have cookies in the oven and have to frost all these!" Merlin told him, turning to a tray of cookies. Arthur didn't like that his clear and obvious bit of anger was being ignored now. He walked over to Merlin.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I have interrupted Lady Merlin and her cookie baking time."

"Bite me."

"I'd rather jump off the roof."

"No one's stopping you."

"Actually I think I'd rather push you into oncoming traffic."

"I'll haunt you."

"I bet you would, you're a troll like that."

"Gawr err!"

"What the hell was that?"

"Troll for _'I think you're a bloody git.'_"

"You are such a fucking idiot!"

"Some people think that's cute."

"I don't know who would think you were cute, you're kinda ugly and have big-" a freshly iced cookie was shoved into his mouth then, and he growled, taking a bite out of it. He ignored how good it tasted. "Fuck you!"

Merlin turned to look at him, with a smirk. "No thanks, not right now."

"What? Oh god…shut up!"

Merlin laughed.

"You are a complete troll," Arthur told him, walking back over to the desk and sitting down, eating his cookie.

**_XXX_**

Ygraine and Hunith were getting along swimmingly, like there had never been a feud between their families. They sat at one of the small tables in the coffee shop for the third day in a row and scribbled on bits of paper. Arthur had found out two days ago that these were recipes Hunith had lost in the fire, they were rewriting them. Merlin was always in the back cooking something or another and Arthur would mostly just stand around, helping a customer every so often.

He did wonder how come they got on so well and he and Merlin couldn't? He realized that it might be slightly his fault and that his mum wasn't probably going to fire them anytime soon, and that might also be his fault. If he hadn't agreed to torch their bakery with Gwaine, maybe, (most defiantly,) none of this would be happening. He figured that he had better make the best of it.

He walked to the back and saw Merlin dipping a cookie into a bowl of black stuff. "Is that chocolate?"

"Yeah," Merlin commented, offhanded. Arthur nodded, feeling awkward, as he came to stand next to Merlin.

"Um…" he muttered, looking at the palms of his hands and his watch, everything that wasn't Merlin. "So, you wanna show me how to do that?"

"Why?" Merlin replied, setting down that cookie and picking up another, dunking it. Arthur sighed.

"Because?"

"No, sorry."

"Why not?"

"Because you think baking is for girls, it's just a waste of my time and I don't really fancy you taking the piss."

"I won't take the piss, and alright, yeah, baking isn't just for girls. Alright?"

"Fine," Merlin stopped what he was doing and turned to Arthur. "I'll teach you how to make sugar cookies."

"Okay."

Arthur thought he was doing pretty good, he listened (as hard as that was for him,) to what Merlin told him to do. Add flour, sugar, and two eggs. He mixed it in a bowl. Merlin stood next to him and made humming noises every so often. It was irritating

By the time Arthur put the cookies in the oven he felt pretty confident. It's not like he never helped his mum cook a cookie before, it's just most of them tasted badly. When the oven dinged he pulled them out and they smelled good. He grinned at Merlin and set them on the counter. Merlin, who had been sitting in the office chair now, came over and gingerly picked up a cookie, bringing it to his lips. He took a bite and…

"These are shit!"

Arthur was offended. "What the hell do you mean?"

"How many eggs did you put in?" Merlin ignored Arthur by asking a question instead. Arthur didn't remember at first, he glared.

"Two…I think."

"I said one egg," Merlin took another bite of the cookie. "Did you add two sticks of butter?"

"No!" Arthur argued. Merlin looked dumbfounded and dropped the cookie on the counter.

"Did you listen to anything I said?" he asked. "I said; three cups of flour, one egg and a teaspoon of baking powder, two sticks of butter and-"

"Shut up!" Arthur yelled at him, how the hell was he supposed to remember all of that? Angry, he stalked over to the fridge and pulled out two sticks of butter, walking back over to Merlin and threw them at him. "There are your fucking two sticks of butter!"

Merlin looked offtened for a split second, before he nodded and walked over to the fridge himself, pulling out a carton of eggs. Arthur's eyes widened. "And here let me count how many eggs you needed," he said, pulling out an egg and lodged it at Arthur. He dodged it and it hit the ground, smashing all over the floor. "Here's a few more!"

Merlin threw three more eggs at him and one hit Arthur in the knee, "Knock it off!" he shouted, walking over to Merlin and pulling the carton out of Merlin's hands, with a bit of a struggle. "Let it go, Merlin!"

He did, but not without grabbing one last egg and smashed it over Arthur's head, as he tried to walk away. Arthur paused, egg running down his neck. He turned back to look at Merlin and glared. Merlin grinned.

"That's it!" Arthur yelled, looking around desperately for something to dumb on Merlin. He settled for the flour jar and walked over to it, Merlin didn't even try to stop him, he just stood there and smirked. Even when Arthur came back and poured the contents of the jar over his head.

Merlin's head was completely white, flour running down him like a stream. Arthur felt pretty proud of himself, until Merlin started laughing and shook his head like a dog, getting flour everywhere.

"Flours running down my shirt," he commented, wiggling around a bit.

"You deserve it," Arthur shrugged, not really sure what to say to that. He had thought Merlin would be mad. But he just looked amused. Merlin clucked his tongue then and ran his hands through his hair, before running them through Arthur's as well. He almost backed up, almost asked him what the hell he thought he was doing, but then he didn't and he started to laugh too.

"We have to share! We're coworkers now!" Merlin told him, marveling at the handy work he did on Arthur's hair. It felt all messed up and a bit itchy now. "You look great, best I've ever seen you for sure."

"You look ridiculous," Arthur commented. "You look like an old guy."

It was true too, Merlin's hair looked completely white and the only bit of flour that was still on his face, wrapped around his lips and made it look like facial hair. Merlin laughed and pretended to stroke it. "That means you're gonna have to clean this up, us old folk can't get around so good."

"Not a chance, grandpa."

"Oi, these teens today, so disrespect!"

Arthur laughed, he didn't really know what was happening anymore, but decided not to question it either way.

_**XXX**_

Arthur walked down the sidewalk toward the park, where he would be meeting his mates. He glanced to Merlin, whom was walking next to him, he looked a bit nervous.

"Calm down," Arthur told him.

"I'm completely calm."

"Yeah right," Arthur rolled his eyes.

They reached the park and walked over to the field where they normally played footie. His mates were all standing around in a circle and he noticed Gwen was there too. He was oddly happy about that, it seemed so was Merlin, who let out a slight sigh of relief, as they continued walking.

"Hey," Arthur said, as they reached the lads. They all looked over at the same time and their mouths fell open, all but Gwen's that is, who walked over and hugged Merlin. Merlin, in all honestly, looked like he was about to pee his pants. (_He probably had many times before, he looked like the peeing himself kind_, but Arthur thought this and pushed it away quickly, he wasn't going to be like that anymore.) Gwaine looked the most offended, gasping at Arthur and pointing like Merlin was a ghost.

"Merlin's going to be hanging out with us today, alright?" Arthur asked, but not really, it wasn't a question. Lance nodded first, with a happy smile, and then Percy and Leon, they all looked please about it. Arthur turned to Gwaine then. "Alright?"

"Yeah," Gwaine nodded. "Alright…let's play footie, you girls!"


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur stood there, looking around the blank countertops and still clean and unused appliances, they wouldn't be like this for much longer, Arthur smiles at the thought. He looks down at the boxes on the blue and red tiel floor and rolls his eyes. It's ugly and doesn't really match, he wants to change them to something nicer, but he's no interior designer, far from it in fact. He was a sixteen year old who had no sense of style in his own clothing choices let alone knew what a place of business needed to look nice, or what the consumer might like. Even so, he thinks the red and blue are ugly together, really, really ugly.

"What are you standing around for?" his mother came in from the stairs behind where he was standing, he looked back, hands going to his hips, he had been moving boxes all day long and he was hot and tired.

"Oi, I was taking a break," Arthur told her, rubbing a hand over his face and pulled a tired expression, trying to convey how very worn out he felt. His mother looked less than concerned.

"When you're done being lazy you've got to go back and get the last of the boxes," she explained, carelessly, as if carrying heavy cooking erumpent from the old store to the car, driving it to the new store and carrying it into said store was a piece of cake, or fun at all…for that matter, which it wasn't.

"I better get something good for this," he muttered, heading toward the door, a new bell already in place, made jingling noises as he pushed the glass forward and walked out.

"A good meal and a job well done!" his mother's voice chased after him and he rolled his eyes, not bothering to comment on that. His mother wouldn't even be cooking the meal, it will probably be Hunith, because if it was his mother who decided to cook _the 'good' meal_, then, in all honestly, Arthur would rather eat his own shoe. Which, at this point, probably smelled like a fourteen year olds armpit, Arthur would know…he used to be one. (Not an armpit, a fourteen year old.)

Arthur got into the car and drove the three and a half blocks to their old place of business. He parked out front and didn't bother turning off the engine in the car, he wouldn't be too long. He looked across the street, at where a once lively and then burnt down Sugar and Spice used to be. It had been rebuilt and was a flower shop now, the lady, Vivian, who owned the shop was a bit of a pill, but her son was alright. Being several years younger than Arthur, they really didn't mingle much, but they have played ball in the park once or twice, and he was a cool kid. As far as kids go.

Arthur walked into the Debois' for the last time, he hoped anyway, and the bell rang, somehow not as brightly as the one at the new place did. There were still a few things littering the counter and an open box sitting in the middle of the walkway between the counter and the wall.

"I told you all before!" came an annoyed voice. "The coffee maker is gone and I wouldn't sell you anything even if it wasn't!" an annoyed and possibly irate Merlin came from behind the wall and then he faltered, seeing it was Arthur, his anger dissolved. "Oh…I thought you were more annoying people trying to get one last cuppa."

"But you wouldn't sell it to them, would you, Merlin?" Arthur asked, with a raised eyebrow and a smile he was trying to fight away.

"No," Merlin said pointedly, frowning. "They've been driving me crazy; they act like it would kill them to drive three blocks more to the new place…idiots." Arthur laughed at that. "What? I'm serious; everyone's all sad, acting like we'll never be heard from again."

"People take their coffee and baked goods seriously," Arthur told him, walking over and examining the last few things on the counter and in the box. "Are you about done here?"

"Mhm," Merlin mumbles, anger once again leaving, as he turns around and runs to the back, shouting next. "Can we stop by the house before we go there? I want to make sure I got all my stuff."

"I _suppose_ we can, if we really must…" Arthur says, acting like it might actually kill him to sit in the car a few extra minutes to go over to Merlin's old house.

"I am so sorry to inconvenience you," he hears in reply, and any normal person might even think Merlin was actually serious and actually sorry, but Arthur knew him too well for that. He came around the corner with a toaster under his arm and was smirking at Arthur, in the irritating way Arthur didn't like, but really didn't mind that much. "I wouldn't want to break your new dream car."

"Forget it," Arthur contoured. "I'll just charge you for patrol."

"You are so generous," the sarcastic tone that was laced in Merlin's voice was not lost on Arthur and he rolled his eyes. Crossing his arms and leaning against the counter, Arthur enjoyed the fact that someone else was working right now, not just him. Merlin then threw the last few things in the box and shut it, pulling tape from his pocket to seal it.

_**XXX**_

Back in the car now, with the last few boxes in the boot, weighing his car down. He ignored how sluggish it was driving now. Merlin sat in the passenger side, bobbing his head to the music playing through the speakers. Arthur wasn't sure, but he thinks it's Taylor Swift playing, Merlin likes Taylor Swift…Arthur doesn't understand why.

He could only imagine the ultimate piss Gwaine would take on Merlin if he found out, the idea made him laugh a bit. Before long, the song had ended though, and Merlin turned the radio back down.

"Are you sad to be moving?" Merlin asked, turning to look at Arthur as he drove. For his part, Arthur only shrugged, he hadn't thought about it much.

"Not really, my family has had the same shop forever, I guess that's why people were freaking out at you," Arthur said, Merlin nodded, Arthur could see him out of the corner of his eye. " But I don't care about it. How 'bout you?"

"No," Merlin smiled, Arthur also caught that from the corner of his eye. "My dad died in that house, I'm happy we're leaving, it'll be good for my mum."

"Hm, I hope," Arthur agreed, things going silent in the car now. That is, until Merlin switched the channel on the radio and the same damn Taylor Swift song boomed through the speakers again.

They arrived at Merlin's soon to be old house and Arthur stopped outside, not bothering to turn off the engine this time either, or get out of the car for that matter. He grinned at Merlin's irritated glare as he got out and headed up the pathway. There was no reason why Arthur had to do_ more_ work. _No thank you!_

By the time Merlin had returned Arthur had been sitting there ten minutes and absentmindedly tapping his foot to the same god damn Taylor Swift song. Merlin jumped back into the car and, by now, his glare had turned into a grin, throwing a small box in the backseat.

"There's a floorboard in my room that I used to hide things in," Merlin explained, even when he didn't have to. "And I used to keep my favorite things in there, like a ball Will won me and a diary."

"A diary, huh?" Arthur smirked, dirtily, switching his car into gear and started down the street.

"I wouldn't look in there if I were you," Merlin warned, even though he looked pretty happy about this fact. "I wrote some nasty things about you."

"You probably wrote how much you love me," Arthur commented, smugly, turning right and heading back passed where the coffee shop used to be. His mother still had to go back and sign papers to the new owner, but Arthur was done there, all the boxes (and Merlin,) collected.

"Not even close!" Merlin was saying now, chuckling deeply. "I mostly wrote about how much I hated you and how much if you got ran over by a train I wouldn't be sorry."

"Ow, gee thanks," Arthur commented, pretending to be wounded by his words. "I never wrote anything like that about you in my dairy…I wrote worse," he lied, because he never kept a diary, but he had _done _worse, so it all evened out. That thought made him sober and frown.

"I don't doubt that," Merlin said, but he was smiling. "You prat."

Arthur continued on to the new shop and drove around the corner, to the driveway that was behind it, he stopped a good few inches away from where there was a garage, right next to his mum's car. Merlin got out first, grabbing his small box in the backseat and disappearing up the stairs that would lead him to his new house. Arthur rolled his eyes, getting out of the car now too, being left with carrying the last of the boxes in, of bloody course.

**_XXX_**

Sitting in the kitchen above the coffee shop, it already looked like Hunith had moved in and took over. She had always been a wonder in the kitchen, he thought maybe Ygraine would pick up a few tips, but her food never tasted any better. Arthur often wondered what Hunith did that his mother didn't. Some people are just natural cooks, he supposes, and then there was his mother…

After they ate Arthur was allowed off the hook from doing the dishes, not by his mother, who seemed to think lately, that her son was her own personal servant, but by Hunith. Who, in turn, forced Merlin to do them, while she and Ygraine chatted at the kitchen table. But Arthur wasn't any fool, he charged from the room so fast after who would do the dishes was announced, before Merlin could give him those sad puppy eyes and force him to do the dishes with him. Arthur was sad to say that has happened more than once. Once you let Merlin in, he doesn't leave, and he could really make your life miserable.

The place used to be an Inn, (and then a Bed and Breakfast, and then a pub for a number of years and then nothing at all, until Hunith and Ygraine decided to buy it,) so there wasn't a flow like in any normal house, just a hall and a series of doors. If you went up the stairs from the shop and opened the door, the door to your left would be the kitchen and the door to your right, the sitting room. If you came in the back door, from the driveway, the door to your left would be Merlin's new room and to your right, a bathroom. Merlin has a small bladder, at least that's what Hunith says, so Merlin likes to be close to a bathroom. Of course, Merlin denied this, but also turned bright pink and then red, so Arthur knew he was lying.

Arthur deiced to go into the living room and sit on the sofa, the room was mostly unpacked, the only thing left was a big box that was labeled DVD'S in Merlin's horrid hand writing. Hunith had already set up her numerous trinkets in a row on the fireplace, making it feel homier. It had actually been her idea to buy a place that had a live-in over top, so that way if someone tried to (Arthur cleared his throat when she mentioned it,) start a fire or break in, there was a big chance they would get caught.

They had just had someone break in in November, before the serious talking about moving shop came into play, none of them knew, except Merlin and Arthur, that it was actually just Gwaine who was high and hungry at four in the morning one night. But the boys were tightlipped about it and agreed that it was a good idea. And it was a good idea, now Arthur didn't have to go out of his way to pick up Merlin or get a good meal, now it was just above the place he worked.

Merlin entered the room a few minutes later, shutting the door behind him, he looked around the room and smiled. He rubbed his dishpan hands together and came to sit next to Arthur on the sofa. Arthur looked over at him.

"Mum says this must've been the honeymoon suit, that's why we've got a fireplace," he commented, Arthur made a face at that. "That's weird, isn't it?"

"I don't really want to think about all the old and possibly….no, most likely dead people who have gotten it on in here."

"Because you're unromantic!" Merlin chided, shaking a finger in his face. "Honeymoons are supposed to be romantic!"

"You thought it too, don't even try to tell me that you didn't think it!" Arthur told him, waving a finger right back. Merlin pulled a face that was a mix between a smile and someone who smelled bad cheese. "See, asshole!"

"Bastard!" Merlin retorted quickly. Arthur rolled his eyes and then scanned around the room, kind of bored, he usually played video games or watched the telly while he was at Merlin's. But the cable guy hadn't been around yet, so no telly. "We could watch a movie," Merlin commented then, on the same page, obviously. "Or I could go try and find the Xbox, but I don't know where mum put it and let's not even mention the games…"

"A movie is fine," Arthur shrugged. He got up and walked over to the DVD box and pulled it open. He picked through a few of the movies and finally settled on a Harry Potter movie, he didn't know which it was, but it didn't matter, Potter was Potter. He tossed it over to Merlin and he, who hadn't been paying attention, let it smack him right in the face.

"What the hell was that for?!" Merlin declared, rubbing the cheek that now had a tiny red mark on it. "Asshole!"

"Well, you shouldn't be such a fucking idiot," Arthur shrugged and went to sit back down, Merlin delivered him a dangerous glare and got up, going to put the DVD in. "No one will be able to see the mark, it just flows with the rest of your ugliness."

"At least I don't look like a buttface," Merlin retorted, not even bothering to face him, just continued to struggle with the cords as he tried to re-hook up the DVD player to the telly. "When you talk it's like someone's farting out of your mouth."

Arthur laughed openly at that. Some might be alarmed at the way the two talked to each other, it seemed their mothers were from time to time, when they forgot they were around and started up with the banter. But it was just the way they talked to each other, sometimes how they communicated, however fucked up it was. Arthur actually enjoyed it most days, and he knew Merlin really didn't think he had a buttface.

"I'm beautiful," he commented, after a long moment and he heard Merlin laugh at this. "Don't be so jealous, Cane, jealousy doesn't suit you."

Merlin didn't comment, only made a loud sound of triumph, having successfully hooked up the DVD player. He put in the DVD, and then came back, and crashed into the couch next to Arthur.

It turned out to be Prisoner of Azkaban, one of Arthur's favorites, and he settled into the sofa, watching as Harry blew up his aunt. But just as Harry had reached Hogwarts the mothers burst in. Well, not actually burst in, but walked in and made Merlin jump, and he paused the movie.

"I'm heading home now," Ygraine said, looking over both boys on the couch. "I suppose you're staying the night, Arthur?"

Arthur shrugged. "I got my own car, if I want to leave I will."

"Sometimes I still forget," Ygraine laughed, turning back to Hunith behind her, who smiled and shook her head. "Well, don't stay up too late."

"It's summer!" Arthur complained.

"Even so, we have a lot of work to get ready for the opening and we need you in some sort of working order." Arthur rolled his eyes, as his mother blew him a kiss. "Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight, mum."

She walked away and Hunith stepped forward, like they had been waiting in line to mother. "I'm going off to bed you two, behave yourselves."

_Behave yourselves_, they shared a look between each other, sometimes it felt like the mothers thought they were actual four year olds and not both sixteen and not _that _stupid. Both Hunith and Ygraine left then, shutting the door behind them and Arthur looked at Merlin with a raised eyebrow. Merlin shrugged and resumed the movie.

"Which do you think is the hottest in this movie?" Merlin asked, some time later, as they slumped on the couch, half laying on each other, under one blanket. This sitting room was rather drafty, no wonder so much sex happened in here, they were searching for body heat.

"Um," Arthur thought about it, he had never really considered anyone _'hot'_ in Harry Potter, or anyone else, (outside of Harry Potter,) for that matter. "They're all thirteen!"

"So what?" Merlin asked, peaking from over the blankets to give Arthur a pointed stare that he could see even in the dark. Lights from the telly flashed over Merlin's face, making him look a bit ghostly and Arthur had to think about it for awhile.

"Hermione, I guess…"

"Hm…" Merlin said, and said no more, turning back toward the movie. But Arthur didn't like being put on spot so much.

"How about you, huh?"

Merlin didn't answer right away, Arthur almost thought he has fallen asleep and then, "Dumbledore, definitely…" he could hear Merlin giggle. "I mean, the flowing, gray beard get's me every time."

"It's pretty sexy," Arthur went along with it. "It's irresistible, really."

"It makes me hard just thinking about it."

Arthur laughed, feeling just a bit pervy at this point. "Shut up, Merlin."

_**XXX**_

Arthur woke up with feet nestled against his ass, wiggling toes and all. "Knock it off," he grumbled, pushing his rear back and trapped said feet to the sofa. The other person on the couch made a humming noise and started wiggling his toes again. "Seriously…stop it!"

"My feet are cold!" Merlin whined, kicking his one foot up and somehow managed to get it up the back of Arthur's shirt. Arthur just rolled his eyes and didn't bother complaining.

"What time is it?" Arthur decided to ask, instead, remembering his mother's words about having to be _'in some working order,' _not that he really fancied getting up just yet.

"Eight," he heard Merlin mutter, and then whine when Arthur sat up. If he didn't get up now, he would end up falling back asleep. Merlin was always kind of whiny when he was tired, Arthur planned on just ignoring him, but did notice Merlin curling into a ball, stealing the bit of blanket Arthur had used.

Arthur stood up and ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the hairs that were sticking up in the back, angry after the way Arthur had slept on them. He looked back at Merlin as he left the room, to find him cuddled up and in no hurry to get up at all; Arthur rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him.

"Good morning, dear," Hunith greeted him, when he walked into the kitchen; he sat down at the table and smiled at her. "Your mum has gone to finish up the paper work and then she'll be here." Arthur nodded his understanding. "I'm glad you're up, is Merlin still asleep?"

"If he's not, he's trying to be," Arthur commented, making Hunith laugh. Arthur was given a breakfast of eggs and toast soon after and then he and Hunith went down to the shop and started to unpack things. Arthur's mother came in about forty-five minutes later and looked a bit worried, calling Hunith with her, and they both disappeared up stairs. Arthur watched after them, annoyed, being the only one left to unpack...what was he, some sort of mule?

But then, only moments later, Merlin appeared from behind the door, looking puffy-eyed and sleepy. Arthur smirked openly at him. Merlin glared, blue eyes glossy with tiredness. Arthur didn't care, he pushed an open box toward him with his foot and continued pulling out all the gadgets that made up the coffee maker from his own box.

The mothers had been gone awhile.

"Do you know what they're talking about up there?" Arthur asked, looking over to Merlin, to see him sitting on the floor, laying his face on the box like it where his pillow. _Fucking lazy plonker._

"Legal stuff," Merlin said and Arthur nodded, turning back to his work. He was currently trying to pick up pieces of glass, the sad remains of a glass vase that somehow got broken in the move. He stabbed himself with a sharp bit of glass and hissed. "Do you need help?"

"No," Arthur chided. "By all means, Merlin, continue being lazy, I'm fine!"

"Okay," Merlin said, and Arthur didn't look, but he could tell Merlin was smirking. "Just let me know if you need anything…"

_**XXX** _

It only took one full day to get everything unpacked, and Arthur thanked god, because it seemed to take twice as long to pack the stuff. He was glad the whole moving thing was behind him, now he could properly enjoy his summer break. Or at least he thought he could, his mother seemed to have different plans.

"Look what I've got!" came his mother's voice, as she walked into the coffee shop, carrying a plaque in her hands. Arthur walked over first, while Hunith and Merlin lingered in their conversation about their relative that lived in Sweden, Arthur couldn't remember if it was Merlin's uncle or Hunith's.

He peered over the plaque in Ygraine's hands, while she grinned, turning it so it faced him. It was their new sign, with their new name. _Spiced Coffee,_ it read. It was a brown sign, with white letters and a white coffee cup, that had gold sparkles coming out of it. Arthur couldn't say he _loved it_, but it was alright.

Hunith and Merlin seemed to like it though, because they both started ewing and awing over it as soon as they saw it.

Arthur was given the job to hang the sign up outside, because he was a mother fucking handy-man or something, while Hunith and Ygraine left to go shop for some tables. But Arthur wasn't the only one left to do work, Merlin was supposed to mop the entire floor, so with that, Arthur really wasn't sure who had the worst job.

As it turned out, there was a ladder in the garage in the back, so Arthur didn't have to go_ all_ the way home to get the one there. He dragged it to the front of the building and climbed up it, dragging a screwdriver, a hammer, (just in case,) and the plaque with him.

Getting it up there wasn't as hard as Arthur thought it would be, the worst part was keeping it still while he screwed the screws into the right places. And then taking it off and putting it back on, because he had put it on backwards. He cursed himself.

It was a hot, sunny, summer day and Arthur was sweating by the time he finished with the plaque, he left the ladder against the side of the building and walked inside, to see Merlin mobbing away on the floor.

"How is Cinderella doing in here?" he asked, leaning against the counter with a smirk. Merlin straightened up his spine and glared at Arthur.

"Shut up."

Make me!"

Arthur got a mop in the face, all wet and slimy, dirty water going everywhere. He made a grossed out noise and Merlin laughed. But he wouldn't be for long, if he had anything to do with it. Arthur rolled up his sleeves and picked up the bucket full of water, advancing on Merlin.

"Arthur!" Merlin suddenly stopped laughing, eyes widening. "Don't!"

"Why shouldn't I?" Arthur asked, shrugging, a bit of water slipping out as he did. "You look a little hot, I wanna help cool you down."

"Arthur…" Merlin said, again, a bit breathlessly this time. "Put the bucket down…!"

"Hm…nah, I don't think I will."

"Arthur!" Merlin shrieked this time. But it was too late; Arthur dumped the bucket of water right over his head. Water ran down Merlin, completely soaking his shirt and pants too, he had water running down the bridge of his nose and it dripped into his open and silently screaming mouth. Arthur laughed.

"Cooled off now?"

Merlin was breathing and short huffs, mouth still open, hair flat to his head from the force of the water being dumped on it, Arthur just kept watching, amused. "I'm going to…" He trailed off and Arthur chuckled again. But it was cut short, but a failing thing in front of him and then Merlin was in his arms, rubbing himself all over Arthur's front, like a cat. _Like a bloody damn cat! _Arthur was frozen, struck by the action, he didn't know what to do, so he did nothing.

"How about you, Arthur, are you cooled off?" Merlin asked, dangerously close to his ear, a bit of water hit Arthur in the neck and ran down his collarbone, slowly. _Oh, dear god…_

A "hmmhmm," made both of them jump apart, eyes wide, but it wasn't either of their mothers, no, it was a man. A tall, dark haired man, and Arthur barely recognized him, he hadn't seen him since he was ten. "It's nice to see you again, Arthur."

"Uh," Arthur muttered, looking over to Merlin, all wet and just as confused as Arthur felt. "What are you doing here, Uncle Agravaine?"

"I have heard from my lawyer recently that your mother sold part of the company, is this true?" Agravaine asked, eyes narrowing at Arthur.

"Uh, yes, she did…" Arthur trailed off, Agravaine glared. "She sold a share a few months ago."

"As you might not know, I too own a part of DeBois Coffee and I only wonder where my cut is," Agravaine stated, sending a nasty look toward Merlin. "I am owed it."

"Right, well," Arthur shuffled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It wasn't sold for any money, it was more a gift."

"Yeah," Merlin said, coming from Arthur's left. "It was a gift for my mum."

"This is business, you do not gift shares," Agravaine stated, throwing more nasty looks Merlin's way, but now, even more dark. He turned back to Arthur then. "Where is your mother? I would like to speak with her promptly."

"She's not here," Arthur told him, thinking that it was no wonder he never liked Uncle Agravaine, he was kind of a douche. "She's out table shopping with her co-owner."

Agravaine looked appalled. "Well," he straightened his red tie and took a step back. "Do tell her I stopped by."

"We sure will," Merlin said, before Arthur could agree. Agravaine made a sickened face at Merlin, like he had just insulted his mother's urn, not that he had given any help picking it out.

"Good day," he said then, and walked out.

_**XXX** _

Arthur's mother met with Agravaine the next day and his lawyers, and then her lawyers the day after that. But, so it seems Agravaine had given up his rights to the company and had given them all to Ygraine when she first took over, so he wasn't owed anything. Arthur was quite pleased about that fact.

He was even less keen on Uncle Agravaine than when he was ten.

Now he sat in the local mall's food court, with his mates, while Merlin went on about how he had never eaten a taco before. When Arthur had first introduced Merlin to his group of friends he had worried he wouldn't fit in, but how everyone got on swimmingly. In fact, Arthur was pretty sure they all liked Merlin better than him, which is alright…he supposed.

"What the hell do you mean you've never had a taco?" Arthur cut in, giving Merlin a look that said utter disbelief. Merlin shrugged, sipping on his coke.

"Some of us are not as cultured as you, Mister Universe," Merlin retorted, crossing his arms and pretending to pout. This only worked on Gwen, it would never work on Arthur, not ever. (Only that it did, a lot.)

"I've never had a taco either."

"Uncultured losers we hang out with," Gwaine muttered at this, shoving chips into his mouth like he were starving. He took a sip of his drink and burped. "You all need some class or I'm going to have'ta find some new friends."

"No one else will put up with ya, mate," Percy commented, patting on Gwaine's back, good-natured.

"Probably not," Gwaine grinned.

"Have you asked the boys about going to the fair with us yet?" Gwen asked then, turning toward Lance, who looked a bit sheepish, as he regarded the other boys.

"Not exactly," he muttered.

"That sounds like fun!" Merlin said, because he would. Arthur and the lads had stopped going to the summer fair when they were thirteen, because it was boring as hell.

"That actually doesn't sound fun at all," Arthur commented, Gwen glared at him.

"You are just no fun, Arthur Pendragon."

"It's actually his middle name," Merlin pushed Arthur in the shoulder and laughed. "Arthur No-Fun Gregory Pendragon."

"Your middle name is Gregory?!" Leon asked, mouthing the words in Arthur's direction, Arthur only shrugged.

"Aw, those two just share all their secrets with each other, don't they?" Gwaine chided. "Do you paint each others toesies and talk about boys?"

"Nah," Merlin shrugged, slipping his arm around Arthur's shoulders, rubbing the spot he had hit, lightly." Only on Fridays, the other nights we're usually plotting your murder."

"Well, it's always good to take a day off," Gwaine smirked.

"So!" Gwen said, sounding a bit impatient now. "How about the fair...?"

And that's how Arthur got roped into driving car-pool to the fair.

_**XXX**_

It was a tight fit. It was Lance, Gwen on his lap, Leon and Gwaine in the backseat. And then Arthur in the driver seat, Percy in the passenger side, (he was a big lad, he should count as two people,) and Merlin squeezed in the middle of them. The whole ride Merlin was elbowing Arthur in the ribs, not that it was his fault, but Arthur complained about it enough to make it seem that way.

When they finally got to the fair, which was an hour drive away, they all scrambled out of the car, after being cramped for so long. Arthur rubbed his ribs and Merlin at least had the decency to look sorry.

"Our entertainment, boys," Gwaine was saying, getting into the cooler that he had forced Arthur to put in the boot. He pulled up a case of beers and pulled one out, handing it to Percy, and then handed one to Leon and Arthur and Merlin, and then Lance and Gwen. "We'll need it, to deal with all the twelve year olds."

Gwen looked offended as Lance opened his beer and took a swig, he shrugged, smiling at her and she turned away, clearly annoyed. Merlin was struggling to open his, so Arthur opened his and shoved his bottle into Merlin's hands, Merlin smiled at him, in thanks, and offered him his bottle in return.

"No thanks," Arthur shook his head. Merlin frowned a little, but took a long drink from his beer and seemingly forgot about it.

They walked into the fair and Gwaine ordered food right away, of course he did, he was a bottomless pit. And Gwen dragged Lance on the fairest wheel. Percy played some strength game and won a giant purple teddy bear. He gave it to Gwen, as any gentleman would do, but not without getting side glances from Lance. But Percy slapped Lance on the back, giving him a winning smile and Lance laughed and proposed Gwen name the bear Percy, which Percy, (the guy, not the bear,) seemed to like a lot.

"Will you go on the roller coaster with me?" Merlin asked, after they had been there about an hour, and after he had drunk three whole beers.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Arthur said, completely sober, because he hadn't drank a sip and he never did. He took the half-empty bottle from Merlin's hand, he shook his head. "You're pissed, man."

"M'not!" Merlin fought, making grabby-hands at the bottle, like he were a toddler. It wasn't making his argument very convincing. "Plah-ease, please go on the ride with me, Arthur!"

Arthur couldn't really refuse that, now could he? He smiled to himself. _Why was Merlin such an idiot?_

"Fine," he agreed, trying to look as annoyed about this as possible. "But if you puke on me..!"

"I won't!"

And he didn't, just clutched onto Arthur's hand like they were riding to their deaths. He made little sounds of excitement and little laughing noises when a bug hit Arthur right in the face as they went down the first big hill. He couldn't be aresed enough to care about the bug though. It was fun.

By the time they exited the roller coaster, having gone twice, Merlin was cheering as he ran and dragged Arthur with him, because he still hadn't let go of him. Arthur didn't bother complaining. They reached their group once more and Merlin chatted to Leon about the ride, while Arthur, feeling a bit awkward about it now, slipped his hand from Merlin's, but he didn't even seem to notice, so Arthur went and took a seat at a picnic table next to Gwaine.

Gwaine was drinking his fifth beer.

"Want one?" Gwaine asked, knowing full well Arthur didn't, but they never spoke of why. Though, they both knew what it was.

"Nah," Arthur said, watching as Merlin waved his hands all around, making absurd faces like he did on the ride. Leon was nodding and smiling along with him. "Having fun?" he asked Gwaine.

"Yeah, yeah…it's not bad."

"Yeah, maybe we'll come again next year?"

"Probably will."

Arthur nodded, biting his lip. Merlin had moved on to Percy and was trying to steal the rest of his beer, Percy noticed and just offered it to him. Merlin grinned like he had just received a puppy for Christmas and brought it to his lips. Arthur sighed.

"So," Gwaine said, after a moment. "Did you see the hot blonde girl that followed you lot on the ride?"

"No," Arthur shook his head. He remembered no girl, blonde or otherwise, behind him. "I didn't see her."

"Shame," Gwaine said. "She had huge boobs." Arthur didn't care much about big boobs, so he didn't say anything. "Nice ass too."

Arthur didn't care about her ass either. "So, uh…" he trailed off, trying to think of what else to say that wasn't sexualizing some girl he hadn't even seen. "Nice weather we're having."

Gwaine laughed openly at this. "Oh, mate…"

"What?"

But he never got an answer, because Lance and Gwen were back, from wherever they had gone, and they were all off to the arcade.

_**XXX**_

Gwaine had blazed up on the way home, offering everyone a hit, so now Arthur was babysitting a bunch of idiots. The only one half-sane was Gwen. Who, even when a bit drunk, refused to touch any sort of drug. Arthur thanked god for her, and really wondered, what the fuck he ever saw in the stuff in the first place.

"Stop for food!" Gwaine was shouting and hitting Arthur in the head from where he sat behind, in the backseat. But Arthur refused. "STOP FOR FOOD, GOD DAMMIT!"

"I'm taking you home, you moron, I'm not fucking stopping!" Arthur barked back at him. Gwaine aimed a kick to the seat. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Oh no, I've made Daddy Pendragon mad!" Gwaine goaded, from the back. "I guess I've been a bad boy!"

Merlin giggled from his spot squeezed between Arthur and Percy.

Gwaine was the first to be dropped off; he flipped Arthur off, as they drove away, Merlin giggled again. Next Percy and then Leon. Lance and Gwen got out together, because they lived close and Gwen was sober enough to walk Lance back to his house, from where they were now parked outside of hers. That left Merlin, who once again, giggled, when Arthur pushed him over and into the seat Percy had been occupying. But Merlin only collapsed into his arms and ended up with his head in Arthur's lap as they drove back to the shop.

Arthur just ignored it.

Merlin was snoring by the time they arrived, Arthur shook him awake and pushed him off of his lap, Merlin looked a bit sad now, like he might start crying. And Arthur was really going to have to tell Gwaine to stop drugging Merlin, because Merlin wasn't the best with this stuff.

Merlin leaned forward again, like he had no balance at all, and lay his head on Arthur's shoulder.

"Stay?" he asked, simply enough. Arthur frowned.

Yeah, okay," he agreed. "You just want me to help you up the stairs, don't you?"

Merlin nodded, looking up with a small smile. "I'm cheeky," he muttered.

"Yeah, you are."

_**XXX** _

In the morning Arthur woke up alone and that was odd, because he always woke up with Merlin tangled somewhere close and he didn't like it, it wasn't normal and just felt strange. Arthur got up and cursed, because his clothes smelled like they belonged on Gwaine. He continued to the kitchen anyway, hungry. There sat Merlin, looking miserable at the table. At least that explains where he was, but something told Arthur it didn't have anything to do with the hangover he was probably feeling.

"What's the matter?" Arthur asked, sitting down at the table, next to Merlin. He didn't like it when Merlin looked like this. Like a sick kitten.

"My mum went out last night," he said, looking over at Arthur for help. Arthur really didn't know what to say to that. "She didn't even tell me she had a date; it was like she was sneaking around!"

"So?" Arthur asked, his mother never dated, so Arthur never had this problem before, but he supposed he could see where Merlin was coming from.

"So!" Merlin retorted. "If I have to tell her everything, she should tell me!"

"Granted," Arthur nodded.

"I'm sixteen, I'm not a child!"

"Very mature you are, with your bunny slippers."

"Arthur, I'm serious!"

"I can tell," Arthur smiled, using his right hand to rub Merlin's back a little. Merlin smiled at him, but only slightly. "She should've told you."

"That's not even the worst part!" Merlin moaned, leaning over and shoving his face into the cove of Arthur's neck. Arthur just let him. "She brought him home!"

"Ew…" Arthur couldn't help saying, he felt Merlin laugh against him. "Who is the bloke?" Arthur asked then, once Merlin made a sad noise instead of a laugh. "Did you see him?"

"No, mum just came, told me not to come in her room until he was dressed."

"Ew…" Arthur said again, Merlin finally pulled back and gave him a look.

"I KNOW!"

It was at this point that Arthur started laughing, hard, because the whole thing was just so gross and yet funny for some reason. Merlin didn't even look offended, because he knew too, the whole thing was just bloody gross. But the laugh died away from Arthur's lips just as soon as the man, whom Hunith had apparently been with last night, walked into the room.

"Good morning, Arthur," Agravaine said, and both Arthur and Merlin's mouths were on the floor.

"Oh my god!" Merlin moaned out, covering his face with his hands like the Home Alone boy. Arthur was perplexed, he didn't know what to do. So he just watched Merlin freak out. Merlin looked pissed within a second after this, truly enraged, and even with their past, Arthur had never seen Merlin look like that. He got up from his chair and pointed at Agravaine like he were the devil. "You stay the hell away from my mum, you greedy bastard!"

Agravaine looked appalled for a second, before smiling, an oily smile. "What I feel for your mother has nothing to do with her share in my sisters business."

"You don't feel fucking nothing!" Merlin yelled, Arthur wanted to do something. But he couldn't, he had never seen Merlin like this, he just watched, transfixed. "One quick fuck doesn't mean anything. I swear to god, I will kick your ass!"

"How dare you speak to me like that, boy!" Agravaine countered, putting his hand over his chest like he was truly offended. Merlin went to charge around the table but Arthur found himself in that moment, and held him back by the shirt. Even if Merlin was sixteen Avrgaine had good lawyers and would probably sue, without a doubt. It was at this point, that Hunith walked in, looking worried.

"What is going on here?" she asked.

"Well, mother!" Merlin yelled, face all red. Even his ears were turning red now. "You just had sex with the bloke whose trying to get steal all of our money!"

"Excuse me?" Hunith glared at Merlin. "I think you had better calm yourself down, young man, and watch your tone. Just know this, I already asked Ygraine if it was alright and she said it was fine with her."

"So, she knew too?" Merlin yelled, not watching his tone at all. "So did everyone know, and just decide to leave me out of loop?" He wrenched himself out of Arthur's grip and glared down at him. "Did you know too?"

"No," Arthur said, quickly. "I didn't, I would've told you and probably puked after."

"At least I have someone who actually cares about me!"

Merlin made a noise like he was being strangled and promptly ran out of the room then, pushing Agravaine out of his way as he did. Hunith looked at Arthur, eyes wide.

"What's gotten into him?"

"Can you blame him?" Arthur asked, quick to take Merlin's side. "You kept something really important from him and then you go and…go on a date with my uncle?" Arthur shook his head. "Not cool."

"Agravaine is a very kind man, Arthur," Huntih told him, gently. "I understand he might seem a bit rough around the edges, but he's really sweet."

Agrvaine was looking pompous behind Hunith and Arthur couldn't believe her words, even if he wanted to, which he didn't. "I'm just going to go check on Merlin."

_**XXX**_

Merlin and his mother didn't speak for a week after that. Alright, it was more like Merlin refused to speak to his mother, even when she tried a few times. Even so, she didn't stop seeing Agrvaine, which Arthur thought was a pretty dick thing to do to your son.

Hunith thought Merlin was being judgmental and rude.

While Merlin thought his mother was an idiot. Arthur could see his point.

Merlin, even after he started to speak to his mother again, he refused to stick around the shop much. When he and Arthur got off at three every day, Merlin always begged him to go to this place or another. And Arthur always took him wherever he wanted to go.

Today they were just driving.

"Hey, you wanker!" Arthur said, turning down the radio and stopping at a stop sign. "When are you going to get your driver's license so I don't have to drive you around anymore?"

"I don't know," Merlin shrugged. "I failed the course."

Arthur had already known that. "And why was that, Merlin?"

"Because me and Gwaine were getting high in the loo."

"And what did you learn from that?"

"Not to listen to Gwaine?" Merlin smiled, innocently at Arthur. Arthur smiled.

"Glad you finally learned that."

"I was thinking," Merlin said then, smiling innocently still. "Maybe you could teach me?"

"What do I look like to you, your bitch?" Arthur retorted, glaring.

"A little bit."

"Asshole!"

"Love you!"

Arthur had no idea what to say to that, so he slammed on the gas, driving away from the stop sign and swerved off to the side of the road. Merlin looked a bit shaken, but eyed Arthur intently all the same.

"Switch seats!" Arthur declared, knocking open his door and staggering a bit as he got out and ran around the car. Merlin had climbed over into his seat by the time he got in the passenger side. "If you wreck my car, Merlin, I will punch you so hard in the face your ears will fall off."

"Duly noted, Captain," Merlin commented, looking like he was about to make love to the steering wheel. "So, what do I do?"

"Bloody hell, how high were you?"

"Pretty high."

* * *

><p>(<strong>AN:** This was super long, and I don't know what happened, because nothing was even happening and I have so much more to go, so I guess it will be a 4 or 5 shot instead of a 3 shot. I hope no one minds too much! I actually really enjoy writing this so, yeah!)


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